Page 55 of Marrying a Billionaire

Just as she finished speaking, Joshua walked through the sliding doors. His gaze fell on them and he gave her a quizzical look. Lillian straightened and waved to Desiree.

“This is Desiree, Reed’s friend. Desiree, this is Joshua. He’s my ex-husband.”

Joshua reached out his hand to shake. “Well, we’re talking about the ex part.”

Desiree eyed him and then shook his hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Joshua. You better know what you’re doing with our Lillian here. That girl is family, and if you hurt her, you’ll have a world of pain come down on you.” She narrowed her eyes.

Lillian swallowed. She was family to Desiree. Something she’d wanted forever. And nothing had sounded so good.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Joshua said, motioning toward Lillian. “We should get going.”

Lillian nodded. She gave Desiree one more hug—and whispered that she’d call her—and then followed Joshua out the door and into his rattling Malibu. Once she was situated, he shut the door and rounded the hood.

He slid the car into drive and pulled out of the parking lot. Lillian leaned back in her seat but couldn’t ignore the uncomfortable feeling that grew in her stomach. This wasn’t right. What a stark contrast between sitting with Reed and sitting here with Joshua.

With Reed it was comfortable and easy. With Joshua, it was painful. All she could remember were the awful times they’d had together. How he broke her heart during the loss of the first baby and through pretty much this entire pregnancy.

Why had he even come back? Why did he suddenly want to be a part of her life.

Then realization dawned on her. The money. Why didn’t she see it before? Probably because she was so desperate to have family in her life, she’d take back someone who treated her bad just to be close to someone. What a fool she’d been.

Determined to prove her theory, she turned to Joshua. “Funny thing. I got a text from Reed’s personal assistant.”

Joshua glanced over at her. “Oh, really? What did she say?”

Lillian shrugged, hoping to come across as relaxed. “She wanted to know where to send the money from Reed.”

Joshua’s grip tightened on the wheel. “And?”

Lillian brushed her skirt down. “I told her not to send it. I didn’t feel right keeping it. Besides, you’re here and can help me take care of the baby.”

Joshua whipped his gaze over to her. “Why did you say that? Are you an idiot?”

He slammed on his breaks a bit too forcefully as he stopped at a stoplight. Lillian had to brace herself with her hand on the dashboard. She glared at him.

“What was that about? Do you want to hurt me? The baby?” She wrapped her arm around her waist out of instinct.

Joshua ran his hand through his hair. “You call her back. You tell her right now you want that money.” His eyes were wild as he glanced around. He must have seen her reaction because his faze softened. “I mean, we need that money, hun. For the baby.” He reached out to touch her stomach, but Lillian slapped his hand away.

“How dare you,” she said, narrowing her eyes. “You are a snake and will only be a snake. You came in talking about how you want a part of this baby’s life. I should have known better. You just saw it as an opportunity for a quick buck.” She folded her arms. “That’s all I ever was to you. I wasn’t your family. I was someone you could use and cast aside.”

Shouldering her purse, she pulled on the door handle and climbed out of the car. Horns were honking behind them as the light turned green.

Rain started to fall around her, but Lillian didn’t care. She wasn’t getting back into the car with that jerk. He was officially out of her life for good.

“Get back in the car, Lil,” Joshua said, leaning over the seat and motioning to her.

Lillian turned and waited for an opening in traffic.

“Get in the car, Lillian,” Joshua said, this time with much more aggression then she preferred.

“Good bye, Joshua,” she said, taking the break of cars as her opportunity to race across the street. Logan yelled some profanity and something else about her missing out, and then sped away.

Now alone, she wrapped her arms around her chest and glanced around. She really wasn’t sure what she was going to do now. The only thought that entered her mind involved Reed. And how much she wanted to see him right now. Then she groaned. She’d left her phone in Joshua’s car and she was pretty sure he wasn’t going to bring it back to her. Determined to not let that derail her, she studied the people walking by.

A portly man with an umbrella caught her eye. She reached out her hand and touched his shoulder.

“Excuse me, sir. Do you have a phone I could borrow?”

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